2008 political action thriller. US President Ashton comes to Salamanca, Spain to give a speech at an anti-terrorist summit in a public plaza when he is suddenly shot. Just as he is pulled away, two bomb explosions go off, throwing more chaos to the mix. The plot advances then through the POVs of different characters, literally rewinding back to before the incident to show the next one's. In the process a number of twists happen, revealing that there is more going on behind than what seems to be at first.

Bittersweet Ending: The president is safe, the girl is safe, but there's a high death toll due to the bombing and assassination. Also Javier's brother doesn't make it.

Black Dude Dies First: Zoe Saldana's character is killed already in the first segment. Also, the two Spanish cops are the only POV characters that are killed.

Body Double: A major plot twist, since the "President" who gets shot is really the body double, and some maneuvering has to be done at the end when the real president is rescued, and it helps that he was actually injured and can pass of the public shooting as being something he survived.

The Masquerade: The Secret Service knows there is a threat, so they send a double of the president to the summit. When the double is shot down, they immediately think about ordering a retaliation strike against a terrorist camp, but stop when they realize that the US president has to order it and he can't because "he" has been shot down on live TV. At the end of the day, the whole terrorist plot and the kidnapping attempt on the real president is covered... somehow... as the work of "a lone gunman" who has been "arrested".

The Mole: One of the president's bodyguards is actually working (inexplicably) for the terrorists.

The Mountains of Illinois: Only the air shots were filmed in the real Salamanca, which is located in a flat, dry plain. This causes continuity errors during the chase scene (filmed in Cuernavaca, Mexico) where heavily forested mountains can be seen behind the buildings. And that's ignoring the out of place palm trees and humid-soaked buildings.

Plot Armor: Agent Barnes has got to have one at least for surviving that car crash.

Plot Twist: Where to begin. The man shot wasn't the actual President but a stand-in. The terrorists know that and the shooting and bombings are just a distraction to capture the real one. The Secret Service weren't the ones that killed the cop, he was murdered by another local cop that was being blackmailed by the terrorists. Also, one of the Secret Service Agents is a traitor. And the little girl that Forest saves is the one that derails the terrorists plot, no kidding.

Police Are Useless: The Spanish police and military seem to be not only completely oblivious to what is going on around them during those twenty minutes, even (or especially) compared to the American Secret Service (case in point - USSS agents chase a terror suspect down the street on their own, shoot at said suspect, and yet there are dozens of oblivious Spanish cops and soldiers running past them into the other direction), but one of them is even seemingly involved with the terrorists as well.

Television Geography: Those who have been to the real Salamanca will notice immediately that it wasn't shot there. Those who have not will suspect something given all the American-brand cars, Mexico City buses and green beetle taxis or the STOP sign near the end that reads "ALTO" (in Spain they read STOP, in English).

We All Live in America: It's set in Spain, yet the Secret Service are seen seizing cars from the locals, as well as chasing, arresting and shooting them, even cops. Plenty of wars have started over much less.

Nevermind that it is an international summit, but it is presided by the city's mayor (with no member of the Spanish national government apparently present), the President of the United States is the absolute star, and the public waves a zillion Spanish flags at him and only Spanish flags, something much more reminiscent of Eagleland (If they want to honor the POTUS and Spanish-American relations, shouldn't they be Spanish and American flags? And what about the other foreign representatives there? Does nobody care about them?). It's painfully evident that the writer had an American president giving a speech in the US in mind and only painted a light "but in Spain" coat over it.

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